A Kind Of Hush
by TieDyeJackson
Summary: What if Tara had bumped into Spike instead of Willow when Running From The Gentlemen ?
1. Chapter 1

Sometimes Spike wonders what would have happened if the whelp and the missus hadn't drove him to madness that night , even without voices they were irritating as all bloody hell. He had to get out and decided a stroll across campus would do him some good.

He was deep in thought when she crashed into him, well more like made him fall completely ass over tea kettle was more like it. He was about to yell when he realized the futility of even opening his mouth. Then he saw the look on her face . That look of complete and utter fear and dread that used to get his nethers all tingly but on her it was different , he could feel that look in his gut somehow. Then she spun him around to show him what the problem was. Seems like some oddly demonic fellows and their straight-jacketed flunkies were giving this poor girl a go. He seriously thought long and hard about just handing her over but then he looked at her face again and his shoulders slumped … dammit this was going to hurt his head … a lot …

He could KILL THEM … the little joy-buzzer in his head didn't make a peep as he twisted the flunkies neck with all his strength until that sound of crunching bone played across his ears like the sweetest symphony . He was expecting a brain blow out and what he got was a good spot of violence and the accompanying erection. Five minutes ago he felt toothless and like ending it all and as he snapped another neck THE BIG BAD WAS BACK BABY. He probably could have killed at least all the minions but the bird was pulling at his duster and her eyes were pleading with him to run. He begrudgingly sprinted away with her . It seems like those blokes got distracted by something else anyway but he still ran until they were in an alley and the only thing to be heard was the overhead street lamp. She ripped off a piece of her skirt and started wiping his face as his brain finally left the idea of being able to kill again and caught up with the moment. It didn't click in for a few moments after he came back to reality with her fussing over a few cuts and scrapes. He looked at her oddly when he realized he was still in game face and had been that entire time. She looked as if she didn't even give it a second thought as she wiped it over the ridges, never breaking eye contact . She just smiled and mouthed Thank You when he finally made actual eye contact.

A scream that remarkably sounded like the Slayer broke the silence in the night and he felt relief as her heard the sigh in his unneeded exhale. He was just about to leave when the bird snagged his sleeve and he gave her a smile as she said "Hi, I'm Tara".

He decided even though he hadn't been a gentleman in a century or two that he would walk her to her dorm and then sdhe insisted on getting him a beverage. He insisted he wasn't a coffee drinker but then again , she did have that same hot chocolate that Joyce did along with marshmallows. They talked and somehow she had caught him on a good day because he vented as much as she did about their respective pasts and mistakes made along the way. She actually listened attentively to every word as did he and in one night he felt her knew more about her than he ever did Drusilla in a hundred plus years. When she found out he was bouncing between places she insisted he crash in her dorm because she had no roommate anyways and she made sure the drapes were thoroughly closed.

He shrugged and plopped down on the bare mattress and she threw her spare comforter over him. She yawned and buried herself under her covers on her own bed and silence filled the room.

"goodnight, Spike" She said softly.

"goodnight, Tara" He replied and a slight smile played across his face as sleep overtook them both.


	2. Chapter 2

Spike awoke around noon to find the curtains drawn and Tara was nowhere to be found . Probably got over the initial shock and skipped out just to wait for him to leave. Good thing he was a big bad vampire and didn't care what anyone else thought of him or it would sting … you know just a little. Whatever …

He was stuck there for a few hours anyway till the sun went down so he lit up a smoke and started looking through the bird's CD collection to see if there was anything worth stealing. After a few flips of his fingers he decided that he'd rather stuff his cigarette in his ear and eat nothing but rat then ever lower himself to steal this drivel. He was on the verge of exposing himself to sun when he until he saw the familiar tinge of pink that belonged to Never Mind The Bollocks and breathed a sigh of relief, there was hope for the girl yet … you know if he cared at all.

He put on the CD on at a respectable level (Punk wasn't Punk unless the windows rattled) and he collapsed back on the mattress he had slept on the night before as he puffed away. His reverie was broken by the soud of thudding grocery bags as Tara coughed a little and covered her ears at the open doorway. Spike couldn't help but grin and he was never so glad to be proven wrong as much as he was in that moment. He quickly leapt from the bed, smacked off the CD player and butted out the ciggy in a nearby potted plant.

She smiled a little smile and pushed her hair behind her ear " M...Making your self at home?" she said. He skipped his boot across the floor and grumbled out a quick "sorry" as he stuffed his hands in his duster "I'll be making my way, then" he said as he started to walk out . "W...W...wait" she said as her hand grabbed his arm and he could swear her could feel her warmth through the leather. She quickly pulled back and continued " I mean ... I like having the company … so it would be much appreciated if you could maybe stay … if you wanted to" She said her eyes looking anywhere but him. "I'm kinda new here and I live all alone and this place is kinda creepy at times and you seem like a nice enough man for rescuing me and all and it seems from our talk that you don't like where you are staying now … " . His chest puffed a little at her words, Buffy and her little merry men treated him like a monster and he knew he was but it still felt good for someone to treat him like something other than gum on their shoe or a thorn in their side, felt good to feel needed.

"You sure luv? I'm a bit more monster than man" He said as he shifted his face to bring his point home. She looked at him and and studied his face a bit longer before deciding to speak. "You're a vampire … I'm a witch … no ones perfect" she shrugged as she turned and started unpacking the paper bags. He grinned at the back of her head then came up beside her grabbing a piece of rolling errant fruit and handing it to her. " Well my last roommate had me usually tied to a chair and chained in the tub , so I guess you are the next step up"

She gave him another fleeting smile and finished putting away the contents of her bags.

" You do have a telly right? One that gets Passions?"

He left at dusk and came back with his own bag a little while later, she looked like she had just taken a shower and was reading and looked up as he came in.

" Sorry, I didn't ask you if you needed anything today" She quietly said; " Think nothing of it, luv." He said " Just had to get myself some blood and some ciggys after going by the bank" He stopped and looked off into the distance thinking " Well, not so much of a bank more than dearly departed demon's pockets" He grinned widely as he put the pig's blood in the fridge.

She had cringed at his last comment and it bothered him more than he would like to admit as he heard the concern in his own voice.

" Oi there luv, I'll have you know they were all bad demons … terrorizing grannies and eating babies and cheating at poker, the right bastards" he said sitting on the end of her bed.

" I..I .. It's not that, Spike," she sighed and she put down the book , pulled her knees in and looked at him guiltily. " I..I .. It's just t..t..that ..."

"Come on luv. No need to be shy around the big bad. Out with it" Spike said.

She took a deep breath " ItworriedmebecauseI'mkindofpartdemononmymotherssideandnowI'montherunfrommyfamilybecausetheydon'tthinkIshouldbeallowedtohavemyownlifebecauseofit" She exhaled as her eyes started to glass with tears.

He looked at her like she was a little barmy as he tried to process what she had said at the speed of light.

" Sod off !" he chuckled to her now shocked expression "You got as much demon 'n you as I got shag carpet 'n me" He chortled "see ..." he popped her in the nose with a quick jab which sent him flying back as they both yelled out in pain.

" Y..Y..You broke my nose" She said with a look of betrayal.

"Exactly" he said " Soldier boys put a chip in Spikes head you see so now he can't even think of nibblin on any of those tasty little happy meals on legs without one awful ache in the noggin love."

She still looked confused as all bloody Hell.

Spike sighed " Spike can't play with all the other little baddies but can kill them cause they ain't human, ya bleedin git"

As realization dawned on her face so did the hugest smile Spike had ever seen. She almost knocked him flat on his ass as she enveloped him in a hug as tears streamed down her face. Spike was so confused by all the thanks yous and other blessings coming out of her mouth he didn't even realize he was returning the hug after a while.

* * *

Spike didn't mind the dorm all that much besides the godawful music that sometimes seeped through the walls. He even nicked some idiot's student ID and the library was sewer accessible and most of the stuff that he liked was buried in the stacks anyway. Pretty soon he had his own little library in the dorm room . Couldn't kill the happy meals on legs so stealing library books and the occasional bag of o-positive was his own way of reminding himself he still had a little bit of the big bad left.

Giving up all the evil wasn't so bad he thought to himself as he leered and gave a little smile at the blonde warmin up the cup of blood while bopping along to the sounds of "Pretty Vacant" while dressed in nothing but his black tee.


	3. Chapter 3

She always scrunched her nose when he lit up another cigarette. He'd always offer to butt it out and she would always politely decline and say she had her own vices. She could handle the second hand smoke as long as he didn't disembowel any of the villagers.

Sure... a fella missed the feel of a squirming virgin dying at the tip of his teeth but a good cup of o-positive from the hospital and her smiling face was a good substitute. Well, that and being able to boot a big nasty until his head caved in helped a little too. She always made sure to read their bloody auras too to make sure they were "bad" demons. He'd just roll his eyes and light another until she determined the thing ate babies or was late returning a movie to Blockbuster and then Spike would get his bit of violence in. Every once and a while she would somehow end up in the demon's sights and he would end up rescuing her. He would act all irritated but in all honesty those times were his favorites because she would always try to ease his irritation by nuzzling his neck and calling him her big bad.

One night as they went on their patrol (Spike always made sure to avoid the slayer ... too many questions and too much suspicion) they happened upon a Fyarl. Tara grabbed his arm before he made his normal dash and had a confused look on her face. "He seems out of place in his own body ... maybe you should try talking to him...?". He looked at her like she had lost a few bricks and then shook his head. As he made his way towards the demon he wondered if the bird was channelling Dru just a wee bit.

"Right then... Who has two thumbs and is about to kick some demon ass ?" he laughed and was stopped dead in his tracks when a look of pure irritation crossed the normally mindless demon's face. "wonderful, Spike's here to top off an already lovely day. we thought he was dead but of course not he just pops up on the worst bloody day of my life !" ... Spike shook his head and wondered if he had gone a little crazy himself "Watcher?" he said apprehensively. You could have knocked Giles down with a feather "you understand me ?" ... "Yeah mate, you may be speaking Fyarl but you're still the old git that I know and detest... what the bloody hell happened to you?"

Before he started the story, Tara decided she wanted to listen in too so she whispered some hocus pocus so she could hear the Englishman turned demon drone on and on about not feeling appreciated anymore, and Buffy this and that and it truly was a bore but Spike almost jumped out of his skin at the words soldiers and initiative. He tuned back in at the end after subconsciously shaking off the willies. "... so that is why I -**sigh- **need your ... help ... Spike". "Righhhht ... and I'm supposed to help you out of the badness of my unbeating heart eh Rupes" Spike shook his head.

How was he to know that would set events in motion where he is now arguing off to the side with Tara as the librarian looks on ... chuckling no doubt, the bloody wanker. He stomps back in front of Giles as he thinks of himself as loves biggest bitch and spouts off " I want a bottle of your good stuff ... no TWO ... and the only reason I am doing this is to piss of the soldier boys and make the slayer feel like shit that I'm saving her watcher's ass** ... **alright lets go then" he takes another unneeded deep breath and dares not make eye contact with the watcher as he passes him**.**

So off they went with Tara sitting in the back , they figured out where that Ethan git was staying and Spike explained a little bit about the Fyarl to Giles. Of course they had a little detour when Giles stopped to scare this lady on the street but Spike didn't mind much when he found out the bitch was responsible for making him a good little puppy. They had to jump from a moving car that his little Glinda made go on its own with magic. As Giles mourned the loss of his classic Spike gave him a pat on the shoulder " Earned it's wings that one did . Maybe some day it will even become a real car". He smiled at Rupert as he walked towards their destination and he looped his arm around Tara " I can kill demons. I can crash cars... Things are looking up!". She just smiled and shook her head as they continued walking.

He had a new appreciation for Rupert as he flung the screaming body of that Evan chap or whatever his name was back and forth across the hotel room. He could see the glee in his eyes as the librarian handled him like a rag doll. All the fun was done when Buffy and the wanker patrol came crashing through the door. Then the slayer started wailing on the watcher and Spike almost laughed a little until he could feel Tara looking at the back of his head disapprovingly . "Bloody Hell..." he thought as he leapt into the fray " ... this is probably going to hurt". He got there with just enough time to put his hand between the watchers chest and Slayer's knife **OWWW **... and of course his lovely knee jerk reaction to the pain was to punch her in the face **OWWW **... and that in turn got a lovely slayer sized punch in the face **FOR THE BLOODY LOVE OF **. As she wound up for another whack Glinda said her hocus pocus again and the two he was between could now understand each other. He suppressed the urge to ask her why she didn't do if BEFORE he got all this lovely damage but she was cuddling him now and fussing over his hand and face.

After some explanation from Giles, The slayer made a grumpy face and trudged over to him and Tara. " So who's the new vamp ho ? " Buffy spouted off snottily. He suppressed a chuckle as he held back Tara's attempt to smack the slayer and jumped in with " She's human, slayer, and a good witch and ya better watch your use of the term ho with fellas like Parker around, yeah?" . She gritted her teeth but then looked back at her watcher now back to his non-Fyarl form and sighed " I never thought I would say this but ... Thank You ... Spike ... and sorry to your ... lady friend". He smiled a little smirk that just oozed arrogance while Tara nodded in a polite warm manner. The moment was interrupted by Captain GI Joe.

" Hostile 17 ... we are under orders to execute you on si..." Riley was interrupted by Buffy's hand on his chest " Sweetie ... not tonight ... tonight he gets a pass for saving Giles" she said quietly and Spike's smile slipped away and with respect he nodded when he made eye contact. Then he saw the burning eyes of the soldier boy and couldn't help himself " Sure know how to pick him don't ya slayer ... this one here's got all the charm of an uncooked potato" He grinned at the seething Riley " Good to have em already trained though... don't want him going on the rug". With that Spike gently pushed Tara out the door and gave a brief yet knowing nod to the watcher. He made a mental note to stay away for a while because for the briefest of moments he decided that the watcher wasn't that bad of a bloke for a mortal enemy of his.


End file.
